New Delhi: Seven people were arrested at Indira Gandhi International Airport by the Customs Department after a golden smuggling racket was damaged in 24-hour operation.
While three of them were passengers, four airline staff owned by Indigo and Spicejet were also allegedly involved in helping to smuggle gold, officials said.
The department said the incident occurred on July 20, when it was based on suspicion and previous tip-off, three passengers arrived at Terminal-3 Delhi Airport (T3) from Jeddah through the flight number QR570 was intercepted after they passed the green channel.
Private search and detailed baggage was initiated and it produced recovery of two gold bar parts and gold biscuits from the trunk of two passengers.
“Three items, weighing around 517 grams and with a value around Rs 22.9 lakh, recovering from two bags of three passengers,” said a senior customs official.
The interrogation then revealed that the third passenger allegedly handed over gold to Indigo staff.
“On the basis of interrogation, it has occurred that three members of Indigo syndicate and one spicejet member were also involved in gold smuggling and they had acknowledged their involvement in the 960 grams of gold smuggling,” Customs said in a statement on Saturday.
In the past, several airline staff had been caught to help smugglers, often carrying gold.
In some cases, the airline staff was handed over gold just before the green channel to avoid officials.
Customs said the group had so far smuggled gold worth around Rs 72.5 lakh.
The seventh seven has been detained and placed under the arrest below Section 104 of the Customs Law.
“Further investigations are taking place to determine whether more gold is smuggled in the past in the same way and if more members are involved,” said an official.
Indigo in a statement on Saturday said, “Customs investigations have highlighted the involvement of an employee in a case relating to the illegal gold movement.
We fully cooperate and help relevant authorities in this investigation.” Spicejet did not comment on this problem.